Crusty Old Bats

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

Share your ancient memories. One of mine is Kardexes.  We used them in report.  Updated them with pencil and eraser ! 

[klone, MSN, RN]

In L&D we used to let the fetal monitor strips just run, and they would form a huge puddle on the floor. whenever you would do something (vitals, position change, change Pitocin rate, put O2 on) you would just write it on the strip so there would be documentation of the exact time anything was done. And then after the woman delivered, you'd sit at the nurses station with the strip stretched out in front of you and recreate everything that happened onto your paper chart (if you sucked at time management and didn't chart as you went along throughout your shift, or if a woman came in and precipped and you didn't have time to chart in the moment). 

[Wuzzie]

When I worked in NICU there were no commercially available pediatric IV fluids so we mixed our own. We had a recipe book for whatever we needed. 

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

Before the major influx of dynamaps, BP cuffs were manual and kept at each bed. Sometimes it was a pain in the behind to find an off sized-extra large or child on adult med surge

[toomuchbaloney]

We taped glass chest tube bottles to the floor so we didn't kick them over.  

[subee, MSN, CRNA]

toomuchbaloney said:

We taped glass chest tube bottles to the floor so we didn't kick them over.  

Dialysis solution in glass bottles warmed in infant incubators.  Lasix for the entire floor.  Kefzol, the latest and newest.  Same for colace.  Bottle of sherry in the med cabinet for to prevent DT's.  Having fun at work.

[londonflo]

IV pumps were only used for TPN and blood. Sometimes you'd have a 'runaway IV' even though you counted the drips per minute you would come in an hour and the liter bag was half gone or dry! Buretrols in pediatrics where you diluted the antibiotic and ran small amounts only. Tagamet IVPB the new wonder H2 Receptor Antagonist was q 4 hours. Demerol IM.

[toomuchbaloney]

Ohhh, Demerol! 

Remember when angiocaths became widely available for peripheral IVs?

 

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

londonflo said:

IV pumps were only used for TPN and blood. Sometimes you'd have a 'runaway IV' even though you counted the drips per minute you would come in an hour and the liter bag was half gone or dry! Buretrols in pediatrics where you diluted the antibiotic and ran small amounts only. Tagamet IVPB the new wonder H2 Receptor Antagonist was q 4 hours. Demerol IM.

runaway IV... hilarious!

[klone, MSN, RN]

Wuzzie said:

When I worked in NICU there were no commercially available pediatric IV fluids so we mixed our own. We had a recipe book for whatever we needed. 

Oh yeah! We used to do that with Pitocin bags for induction of labor. The funny thing is if you used 1 vial of Pitocin for a liter, the IV pump rate was 1:6 (for every increase of 1mu of Pit, it was 6 ml on the pump). So you'd have to do fancy math every time you titrated the Pit (which was every 20-30 minutes for multiple hours). Sometimes nurses would get clever and put 2 vials into 500ml to change the ratio to something a little easier to quickly figure out (I think that would make it a 1:1 ratio but I haven't had coffee yet). But holy med error, there was no standardization, just whatever was the whim of the nurse mixing the bag, and then it was up to her to clearly mark what the ratio was, and up to everyone else to know how she mixed it. 

[Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN]

Charting in 3 colours.

Double bagging isolation linen bags.

People smoking at the nurses station.

Narcotic keys.

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

Pepper The Cat said:

Charting in 3 colours.

Double bagging isolation linen bags.

People smoking at the nurses station.

Narcotic keys.

I am so crusty.. I forgot smoking in the lounge with my patients.